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Friday, 27 January 2012

Mess-free finger painting

Last week I put together a mess-free finger painting project for the boys. This was definitely a success! I first saw the idea on Pinterest (you can find my Pinterest boards here!), where Mama Smiles had done this project using blue hair gel. I used tempera paint, making this a great colour-mixing experiment at the same time.

I squirted two primary colours into each of the three Ziplock freezer bags, put a white piece of paper under them, and taped the whole thing down with painter's tape. Then I let the eager boys have at it!

They first experimented with each bag to see what new colour was made when mixing the two primary colours together. Then they drew pictures, made handprints, and drove their cars over the paint to see the tire tracks. Turns out cars aren't exactly gentle on the bags. After a couple quick repairs with masking tape, the cars were parked for the rest of the activity.

Next time I will make sure I get all of the extra air out of the bags before taping them down. A couple of the bags had air bubbles in them, which were much harder to remove once the paint was spread throughout the bag. Painting worked much better with the air bubbles removed.

We kept the bags taped to the table all week, removing them only when we had company coming for dinner. Now I have them tucked away, ready to be brought out and reused again at a later time. In the meantime, good old fashioned finger painting is still a very popular way to pass an afternoon!

it's good for sometimes when a mess is completely out. Kids should be able to feel the paint on their hands in school without fear of getting hands dirty. Let them experience this without bags at times...like making mudpies, same sensation.Now sand is a whole nother things..outside please. Cornstarch works well inside and cleans up alot easier than sand.

And that is why you can see, Anon, that we also do messy finger painting in the last picture of this post. Both forms are equally valid - and very different! - sensory experiences. Variety is always to be desired when it comes to sensory play, and sometimes mess-free is just a bonus!

the shaving cream is WONDERFUL! It is fun for the kids and great for mom. It cleans your table while they play and when you clean up, your table will be super shiny and very clean. Great way to "spruce up" the dining room table. :)

Did this with my 3 year old. Either i put to much paint or it was too thick. Colors didnt blend well and we couldnt see the white of paper under his finger marks so he pressed harder and harder using his nails. I was affraid he would tear the ziplock bag so we stopped. We tried again and use whipped cream and food coloring just so he can make colors. That was the best part!

Definitely going to have to try this with my two year old... he has a weird phobia of getting things on his hands. He'll play in the dirt and mud, but if he gets peanut butter on his hands, it's the end of the world. This would be perfect for him. Thanks for sharing!

We do this in a toddler classroom with 10-12 toddlers. we put shaving cream with different colored paints to mix. It works out great. Just be sure to tape the bags to the table so if the bag would break you don't get paint everywhere.

This idea is GENIUS! I was painting with my toddler today: the painting bit was massive fun, but the clean-up once she's bored and wants to wander off & do somthing else was immensely stressful ~ trying to get her clean & get all the paint & brushes away before it gets smeared all over the house / eaten by the baby is a race against time. I am absolutely doing this next time instead.

LOVE this idea! I have a 6 year old and a 2 year old, and the 2 year old hates to get messy but loves to paint with her big brother. He LOVES fingerpainting! This could allow her to do the same thing he's doing without the mess! Thank you!

This is great. Someone mentioned other things, which has me thinking, what about some kind of oil/glitter/small shaped confetti thing? It would be like a disco party in a bag!! I think I will set this up for the kiddos tomorrow and experiment with the other idea by myself, in case it fails, or explodes.Thanks again!

I teach pre-k and we have done these with hair gel and glitter. They are beautiful. If you use the light blue hair gel it looks like the ocean. We put little fish shaped confetti in it and it was fun. :o)

I just saw your idea on another blog. This is a great option for my son, who is the one who doesn't like to fingerpaint. He'd rather just paint his whole body, LOL. I love your profile pic with the babywearing. I miss that stage so much. All my beautiful carriers are stored in the closet!

Great tutorial! I did this with my kids tonight and posted the results on my blog with a link back to you. Please let me know if this is okay. You have a wonderful blog! I made some tweaks to my version - made it portable with a place mat and taped it up just a tad different on the zipper part. Looking forward to reading more of your blog!

you could fold all four corners to the center. Place the paper in the bag and paint. When you are finished painting, take the paper out of the bag and unfold. The inside should be paint free. Worth a shot to try. :)

Lifesaver! I have amy son's fifth birthday party this Saturday and we invited some church friends with toddlers. Been wracking my brain for activities for them. This would be awesome! Thanks for the post!

What a lifesaver! I have toddlers coming to my son's fifth birthday party and this would make a nice activity for them without worrying the parents about getting their kids dirty or the paint being eaten. Super idea!

My four and six year old are having a blast with this activity as I type this. Terrific idea. The other day my 4 year old asked if she could finger paint and I reminded her that we only do that in the summer as an outdoor activity. She is so excited! Thank you!!!!!!!!

Great idea! I will be trying this week-- my poor DD never gets to finger paint because mama doesn't like the mess! We did mud pies outside and I almost lost it over her flinging MUD everywhere... toddlers!

We do this in our home but instead of taping the thing to the table, I tape the bag to the paper. I use a bright green backing paper and one contrasting paint inside the bag. You can take it anywhere now (great for car rides!). You can also add a layer of cardboard behind the paper too to add stiffness.

Thank you for posting this! I used this for one of our craft projects in VBS for the 2-4 year olds. With a little tweeking, we experienced (with little mess I might add:) how God made the river like a wall of water so that the people could cross it. The children loved moving the "water" back and forth:)

For those of you looking to make a record of the art work you can cut the bag so you can fold it open when finished then tape it up tightly you can open it up and lay paper over it to make a print. Another option is digital photography that way you can record more than one creation with the same materials. Then you can print onto plain/coloured/textured/photo paper or display on a digital photo frame this has the added benifit of being able to display lots of creations without them becoming floor to ceiling wallpaper.

Wow ! Thank you so much for the inspiration you have provided me with! I sat down and did this with my 20 month old this morning and she LOVED it. We started out with just one colour as I wanted to use it as an intro to the colour red. We then looked at the marks that different red object made on the paint board such as a red car, red fork, red block etc

Brilliant. I will use this idea again and again. I have posted about it on my blog and referenced your site. Here's a link if you're interested ://non-nativebilingualadventure.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/sensory-play.html

Okay. So maybe I am just tired. But you out the paper down on the table. Put paint inside ziplock bags but don't seal them and then tape everything down and allow them to press in the bags to make secondary colors? What is overtop? Syran wrap?

The paper on the table is just for contrast underneath the bags. Put paint inside ziplock bags, seal the bags, tape it to the table. They push the paint around with their fingers to mix the colours and make pictures. Nothing overtop. Hope that clears things up for you.

Great idea. Want to use this as an alphabet or name practice station in September with my Kindergarteners. This will be much easier to manage as I don't have an aide in the classroom. The kids will have fun with the paint and I won't have all the stress of the clean up. I also liked the suggestion someone made of having it on plastic placemats so the set up will be easy as well.

At first I thought you put the paper on the table, then a few pools of paint then covered it with clear plastic and taped it off.. I may try your way and what I was thinking. I love the mess free!!! BUT if the paint was able to smoosh around on the paper, then they would have an art work after you peeled off the plastic of course!

I'm a Nanny now so this is my second generation of finger painters. I've always used the inside door of our dishwasher for a table. The kids just sit on the floor and paint on their papers. After they finished I Just close and turn on. Easy clean up. :)Nanny Bif

There is one bag with red and yellow, taped to the table. Beside it there is a second bag with yellow and blue, taped to the table. Beside that one, there is a third bag with red and blue, taped to the table.

This is such a great idea for my daycare!! I have a few little ones that love to paint but hate it on their hands and I have a few that love it on their hands and everywhere else their little hands can touch!! Love this mess-free idea for inside art time.

Love this idea, and definitely going to try it with the kiddos. I do despise the mess of finger paints. Since I'm stealing one of your ideas to do with my kids, I thought I'd give you one of mine. It's another fun, finger painting project: http://testingtrendy123.blogspot.com/2012/09/easy-peasy-finger-painting-project.html

My little 2 year old girl loves painting and love coloring....but she did not like this activity at all. Weird I know...but it wasn't "exciting" enough for her. She kept saying "i want to touch the paints...open it" and then she wanted to be done after just a few minutes when there was no mess to be made. Gotta love 2 year olds! I won't do this one again.

My kids love painting, but we do not do it as often as they would like because of the mess. This is a great idea!!! Thank you for sharing. I would love for you to share this idea on my linky party, my readers will love this idea! http://www.fivelittlechefs.com/2013/01/fantastic-thursday-27.html

This sounds amazing, I am an ECE student and work with many three year olds who are working on their colours, I haven't seen them painting. However, the developmental levels of the children might be a different story, I am not sure if this would be interesting for them or better suited for toddlers. And in a HighScope center, I might add a small bin of Qtips to draw with.

Did you have the paper in the bag with the paint so the kids have something to show or was th paper under the bag and the paint in the bag I tried this with my kids 2day and couldn't get the paper out of the bag with out it riping, and couldn't get another price in either thanks confused :§

The paper was under the bag, there solely for contrast so the colours could be seen better. This was more of a sensory activity than a finished-product activity; they had fun with it even with nothing to show for it afterwards. :) Sorry I wasn't more clear!

Hi, Thought I'd share two things I have found. The heat sealing bag are thicker for us though the underside is a bit textured. For my 20 month old I refused to do the sensory bags though I knew she would love them because of the hair gel. When baking one day I stumbled on the solution that works for us... I fill a heat seal bag (could use freezer bag) with the sensory items and light corn syrup (the clear one)!!! Sometimes I add food coloring but usually I add a different colored glitter per bag. That way when she gets a hole in the bag even if she eats some (or the dog does lol) they just get corn syrup not hair get. :-) Just wanted to share this additional option with you. Best of luck and thanks for sharing your blog!!

This was more of a sensory activity than a finished-product activity; they had fun with it even with nothing to show for it afterwards. :) But I believe someone up higher in the comments had success keeping the painting by using a thick sheet of paper (cardstock) in the bag and then pulling it out and hanging it up to dry.

Love how these turned out! My daughter and I did something similar but with a lot less paint and a piece of paper instead. Gonna have to try this one out though! I featured your idea on my blog post: http://www.needlesandbows.com/2013/10/mess-free-finger-painting/

This was the perfect activity for being stuck in the house due to Snowpocalypse 2014. Despite having been given lots of opportunities to get use to it, my son just doesn't care for getting his hands dirty. Plus he's really into art. This activity really got his attention and we pretended it was the ocean and played with it for over an hour. Thank you for sharing!

This didn't work at all for us, the paint didn't move away enough to show the finger marks through the paint, I could do it with the back of my nail but not my finger so no good for the kids - I don't know why ours didn't work like yours!??

I think I need some sensory therapy for myself! Paper first, then unzipped Ziploc bags filled with paint, then painter's tape. How does this keep my student's tiny, little fingers paint-free? I know I'm assembling it incorrectly. What am I missing?

Once the paint is in the bags, close the bags and tape them to the table. The paper underneath is optional; it just provides better contrast. Then the kids use their fingers to push around the paint that is inside the bag - mix the colours, make pictures, write words, etc. There's no final product that is produced from this activity. It would be better referred to as a sensory bag than as finger painting.

Such a wonderful idea! I'm new to homeschooling and love finding neat, mess-free ideas for craft/art time. I think this would be a great activity for all ages and maybe even for myself!! =) Thanks for sharing!